This open access book describes the complex dynamics that coevolve in cities and from cities, to inform agendas for urban research and urban policy with a view to future city missions. It provides a suite of research-informed chapters on urban pathways that are early signals and visions for how future cities can be shaped and transformed as well as chapters from policy, industry and intermediary organization actors that relate and respond to these pathways from a mainstreaming and implementation perspective. This edited collection intends to trigger and capture an ambitious transformative agenda amongst researchers and practitioners who have as their mission to shape urban futures. 

While there is proliferating literature on cities, urbanism and urban governance, this book offers a unique selling point – implying a research positioning point – to the field of sustainability transitions by intersecting research on urban sustainability transitions and missions-oriented research. The focus on the nexus of game-changers, pathways and innovations sets the book firmly in the leading edge of urban transitions research. The book engages with a breadth of disciplines including sustainability science, urban planning, urban design, mobility, energy, climate change science, urban ecology, urban sociology, architecture, data science, sustainability transitions studies, policy analysis and policy studies, as well as environmental governance. As an output, it aims to engage with and inspire future research and teaching/education in the fields of architecture and urban planning, urban design, environmental governance, sustainability science, innovation studies and urban sociology.